The airline reported better earnings than expected for its latest quarter, and restored its forecast for the rest of the year.
The outlook for travel is improving as consumers and businesses regain economic confidence, according to Delta Air Lines.
The carrier reported a bigger quarterly profit than expected on Thursday, providing hope to investors that travel demand has stabilized after a rough start to the year.
The announcement, the first batch of earnings from a major U.S. airline for the second quarter, sent Delta’s share price soaring more than 10 percent on Thursday. And while the airline also lowered its financial forecast for the full year, that was seen as an improvement on the previous quarter, when Delta withdrew projections altogether amid rising economic uncertainty around tariffs, a pullback in travel among federal workers and traveler anxiety after several high-profile plane crashes.
Delta’s chief executive, Ed Bastian, said he expected consumer and corporate confidence to improve in the coming months, because of the certainty provided by the recent passage of a sweeping domestic policy bill and progress, of sorts, in global trade talks. That should pave the way for an acceleration in travel demand.
“We talk to a lot of businesses, a lot of leaders, and there’s a growing sentiment of confidence moving forward,” Mr. Bastian said on a call with analysts on Thursday. Still, he warned, “clearly we still have a long ways to go.”
Delta had started the year on a high note, saying in January that it expected to deliver the best financial performance in its 100-year history. But that outlook soured as the early stages of President Trump’s trade war rattled economic confidence. Federal government cuts also contributed to a slowdown in travel, as did anxiety among some consumers after fatal plane crashes in South Korea in December and Washington in January. A Delta flight was involved in a crash landing in February in Toronto, and all 80 people on board survived.
